Tonight is the season opener for a Johnstown team that has had an almost complete identity overhaul in the offseason. Gone are former GM Toby O'Brien as well as many of the familiar ECHL veterans who used to make up the team. In their place the Lightning have set up a new management team and a revamped roster that includes much more youth, skill and speed. Coach Frank Anzalone is the constant, and the veteran coach will go for his 300th ECHL win tonight. Stanislav Lascek and Radek Smolenak should form a potent offensive attack for the Chiefs and they are expected to get strong goaltending from Gerald Coleman and Morgan Cey, but it's the progress of the team's defensemen that may decide how much it can improve over last season's short playoff run.
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Congratulations to Coach Anzalone on his 300th ECHL win.
[url=morgan-cey]Morgan Cey[/url] stopped 31 of 33 for the win. Veteran Jean Desrochers had a first period natural hat trick to set the pace for the Chiefs. Doug Andress had a goal and two assists while [url=zbynek-hrdel]Zbynek Hrdel[/url] racked up three assists. Doug Adams had two assists and Radek Smolenak added his first professional goal while individual helpers went to [url=pj-atherton]PJ Atherton[/url], [url=stanislav-lascek]Stanislav Lascek[/url] and Brandon Elliot.
And that's just game one.
Game sheet from [url=http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=918]ECHL.com[/url].

And the over/under for [url=stanislav-lascek]Stan Lascek's[/url] recall to Springfield now is set at ohhhhh, about 5 minutes.
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Lascek again led the offense for the Chiefs with 2 goals, 1 an empty netter, and an assist. Linemate Gus Katsuras had 1 goal and 1 assist and [url=radek-smolenak]Radek Smolenak had 1 helper.[/url] The other Johnstown goals were scored by Doug Andress and Jean Desrochers with individual helpers going to [url=pj-atherton]PJ Atherton[/url], Ben Wallace, John Toffey and Andrew Martens. [url=gerald-coleman]Gerald Coleman[/url] got the win before giving way to [url=morgan-cey]Morgan Cey[/url] who allowed all three Nailers goals.
Game sheet from [url=http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1814]ECHL.com.[/url]
[b]Updated:[/b]
[url=http://johnstownsports.proboards42.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1160877215&page=1#1160881311]Here's a good game summary[/url] from BrianV on the unofficial Chiefs message board.

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[url=morgan-cey]Morgan Cey[/url] allowed 4 goals on 16 shots before giving way to [url=gerald-coleman]Gerald Coleman[/url] who allowed 1 goal on 10 shots the rest of the way for the loss. [url=stanislav-lascek]Stanislav Lascek[/url] led the way for the Chiefs scoring two goals and an assist while [url=radek-smolenak]Radek Smolenak[/url] had 1 goal and an assist. Their linemate, rookie Gus Katsuras, had 3 assists. Maxime Boisclair scored the Chiefs' other goal with individual helpers in the game going to veteran Jean Desrochers and [url=pj-atherton]PJ Atherton[/url].
Game sheet from [url=http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1808]ECHL.com[/url].

Let me start this commentary by throwing out some Lightning trivia. Did you know the maximum number of appearances made in an NHL season by a goaltender the Lightning drafted is 16 by Zac Bierk? Did you know that in total goaltenders drafted by the Lightning have made 94 total appearances, 382 less than Nikolai Khabibulin alone? In fact, did you know John Grahame has played in more NHL games (122) than every goaltender drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning combined?
This week the Lightning signed goaltenders Jonathan Boutin and Gerald Coleman to entry-level deals in hopes of turning the tide on 13 seasons worth of draft futility between the pipes. Both could have talented careers as pros, but something troubled me this week that I want to talk about. The team has been floating the trial balloon that both goaltenders may split time in the team's ECHL affiliate in Johnstown. Let me explain why I think that trial ballon should be shot down, flogged, lit on fire and then buried.

[url=http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3833156] The Associated Press and FoxSports.com are reporting the Lightning have signed prospect goaltender Gerald Coleman [/url] to a standard three year entry-level contract.
The Lightning have yet to issue a press release on Coleman's signing. Given the Lightning generally like to announce the signings of multiple prospects jointly and the deadline for signings is 5pm tomorrow, expect a press release some time tomorrow announcing Coleman's signing along with Boutin and/or Hrdel.